This invention relates to a machine for selectively harvesting asparagus stalks and the like.
A variety of apparatus have been suggested for facilitating the automated harvesting of asparagus. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,709,330; 2,767,544; 3,176,456; 3,328,943; 3,412,540 and 3,653,194. The result sought with most suggested arrangements is to harvest only certain mature stalks while leaving undisturbed the younger stalks. The harvesting of asparagus, since it is typically planted in ordered, parallel beds or rows, would appear to be suited for automation but the suggested arrangements, although eliminating much of the manual labor, generally cause some damage to the unharvested stalks growing near those that are harvested. This is because the cutting elements in such arrangements are positioned and dispatched to cut a selected stalk in such a way that adjacent stalks are either also cut or are partially mutilated. This, of course, is costly and serves to defeat one of the purposes for seeking to automate harvesting in the first place --that of reducing the cost per unit of crop harvested.